1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a collapsible housing frame. More specifically, the present invention relates to a collapsible housing frame in which printed circuit boards to be incorporated into various kinds of electric and electronic equipment, as well as panel plates for use in other industrial fields (such as panels used as construction materials) are 1temporarily placed for transportation and storage purposes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Housing frames have been used as containers for transportation and storage purposes, which receive printed circuit boards to be incorporated into various kinds of electric and electronic equipment, as well as panel plates for use in other industrial fields. As an example, a housing frame comprises an outer frame which is formed by securing a top plate and a bottom plate, which are placed with a uniform space between them, with four support columns at their four corners. Either the right or left side of the outer frame is composed of a fixed side frame board which is erected by being secured at the support columns, and the other side of the outer frame is composed of a movable side frame board which is erected opposite to the fixed side frame board, and which is movable in parallel to the fixed side frame board and can be secured at a desirable position. In this housing frame, a plurality of parallel supporting grooves which correspond to each other are formed on the opposite faces (inner faces) of the fixed side frame board and the movable side frame board. The housing frame is designed to be capable of mounting and placing desired printed circuit boards and other panel plates on multiple layers by placing them across pairs of the supporting grooves opposite to each other and located at horizontal positions, perpendicular to said inner faces.
Another example of the prior art is disclosed in an official gazette of the Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open (Kokai) Publication No. HEI 2-45687. A housing frame disclosed in this official gazette has a construction in which: two sheets of erect side frame boards are provided, facing each other, between a top plate and a bottom plate which are mounted with a uniform distance between them; one of the side frame boards a fixed side frame board, and the other side frame board is a movable side frame board which is movable in parallel to the fixed side frame board and which can be secured at a desirable position; at least one pinion is mounted in a rotatable manner at each of four positions close to four corners of the movable side frame board, which pinions interlock with each other, and; guide rails with racks which engage with all the pinions are mounted on the inner faces of the top plate and the bottom plate in a direction perpendicular to the fixed side frame board.
However, the conventional housing frames described above keep the same shape as they contain printed circuit boards and panel plates, even when they do not actually contain these materials. Therefore, carrying an empty housing frame is like carrying air, and is a waste of space, which is very problematic. Another problem is that a large space needs to be procured in order to store the empty housing frames.
The present invention aims to solve the above-described problems related to conventional housing frames and to provide a collapsible housing frame which can be transported or stored utilizing the smallest space necessary.